Black Gate – Page 801 – Adventures in Fantasy Literature

Vintage Treasures: The Plantagenet Novels by Allen Andrews

Saturday, August 8, 2015 John ONeill Comments 5 comments

Allen Andrews is the author of a number of fine British histories, including Kings and Queens of England and Scotland, The Whiskey Barons, The Air Marshals, and Wonders of Victorian Engineering. But for genre fans, he’s chiefly remembered for two light fantasy novels he produced in the 1980s: The Pig Plantagenet (1980) and Castle Crespin (1982), both reprinted in paperback by Tor with a pair of fine covers by Victoria Poyser.

The Pig Plantagenet is the tale of Plantagenet, a pig on a 13th century farm in Poitou, France, who schemes to ruin a great hunt that will slaughter all the wild pigs and other creatures surrounding the farm. The sequel focuses more on Fulgent the Fox, who has “fairly traditional designs on a local farmer’s poultry,” and who is also part of the local animal aristocracy. One thing leads to another, and soon two very different societies are locked in deadly conflict.

Both books drew strong comparisons to Watership Down and Animal Farm, which was doubtless inevitable with any fantasy featuring farm animals, but more astute reviewers saw more in these books, especially the rather clever way in which the author depicts a class-based animal society with surprising complexity.

…

Read More Read More

Sentient Crows, Weavermen, and the Mughal Empire: A Review of Outposts of Beyond, July 2015

Saturday, August 8, 2015 Nik Hawkins Comments 8 comments

Outposts of Beyond has a name that connotes intergalactic travel, parallel dimensions, and the dark, far-flung regions of the universe — all trappings of science fiction. So it comes as no surprise that, even though the magazine contains fiction and poetry in the SF and fantasy genres, it leans a little more toward the former, at least in the case of the July 2015 issue. But this is Black Gate, so I’ll stick with the fantasy content.

“Drakoni,” by Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz, is a real-world-meets-fairyland story that might have a certain amount of charm for the pre-teen and early-teen crowds. Ultimately, though, it didn’t strike me as very original and didn’t develop the protagonist effectively. And there’s a hint at her otherworldly nature at the beginning of the tale that never really gets resolved or explained, leaving a troubling loose end. I think the ending is supposed to be happy, but it only left me feeling sorry for the heroine, who seemed to be retreating from a lonely reality.

“Of Feather and Claw,” by Jason Lairamore, is a story of two lost children trying to return to their parents, but they’re stuck serving as pawns in a war between a pack of giant coyotes and a murder of sentient crows led by an over-sized corvid king. Their efforts fail, but help arrives in unexpected forms.

This tale had a delightful weirdness to it, but even weirdness can do with some basic realism in which to ground it. In some cases this was lacking, like when a child shows no reaction after suffering a horrific injury. This sense of detachment lent the story a folkloric or mythological feel, which may have been the point, but for me it was a bit jarring. Lairamore rounds the tale out nicely, though. Worth reading.

…

Read More Read More

Victor Milan Talks Planet Paradise, His Many Pen Names, and a Plastic Dinosaur with Metallic Paint on It

Friday, August 7, 2015 Emily Mah Comments 2 comments

I had the opportunity to sit down with Victor Milan last month to discuss his current release, The Dinosaur Lords. As a member of his writers group, I’ve read the early drafts of this novel and am very excited to see it in print. George RR Martin refers to it as “Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park,” and that’s a pretty good synopsis.

Set on the lost Earth colony of Paradise, feudal society humans live among dinosaurs of all epochs – wild dinosaurs, tame dinosaurs, and even war-mount dinosaurs. Hence the awesome knight on dino-back image that graces the cover of the book. Combine this with the sudden manifestation of a mythical angel of doom, and you’ve got the kickoff event of the story.

While Victor Milan is a well-known, prolific author, many people don’t know how prolific. On top of the dozen novels out under his own name, he’s also written many, many more under pen names. His career so far spans thirty-one years of publishing history, including the infamous midlist apocalypse of the 1980’s. Together, he and I discuss the ups and downs of the business and his journey so far.

…

Read More Read More

Future Treasures: The Story of Kullervo by J. R. R. Tolkien

Friday, August 7, 2015 John ONeill Comments 1 comment

J. R. R. Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, but nonetheless he’s been tirelessly producing fantasy novels (and bestsellers) for the past forty years — including The Silmarillion (1977), Unfinished Tales (1980), the 12-volume History of Middle-earth (1983–1996), Mr. Bliss (1982), The Children of Húrin (2007), The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún (2009), and Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary (May 2014). A partial draft of Language and Human Nature, which Tolkien began co-writing with C.S. Lewis but never completed, was discovered at the Bodleian Library in 2009, and doubtless we’ll see that for sale at some point.

Seriously, the man’s library must have been crammed floor to ceiling with unpublished manuscripts when he passed away. I could never dream of equaling that level of productivity over 40 years, and I’m not dead.

The latest newly-discovered Tolkien manuscript to go on sale is the short novel The Story of Kullervo, to be published in digital format in the US by HarperCollins on August 27. It is the tale of an orphan boy with supernatural powers, raised by the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father. Kullervo is clearly the ancestor of Túrin Turambar, hero of The Silmarillion, but this version a more standalone tale. The manuscript was unpublished for many years, but previously appeared in 2010 in Tolkien Studies: Volume 7.

The world first publication of a previously unknown work of fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the powerful story of a doomed young man who is sold into slavery and who swears revenge on the magician who killed his father.

Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters. ‘Hapless Kullervo,’ as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.

…

Read More Read More

Discovering Robert E. Howard: Jeffrey Shanks on The Worldbuilding of REH

Friday, August 7, 2015 Bob Byrne Comments 5 comments

We are trying to look at as broad a range of topics related to Robert E. Howard as we can in this series. Characters, genres, events, themes: Black Gate really wants to showcase the many facets of the man and his works.

Today’s guest post is such an example. Jeff Shanks wrote the introduction to the just published facsimile edition of Howard’s essay, The Hyborian Age and is the REH consultant on Modiphius’ upcoming Conan RPG (we’re gonna have a post for that, too!). I can’t think of anyone better to write about one of my favorite subjects, world-building.

While Robert E. Howard is known as the creator of a number of memorable heroic protagonists, such as Kull of Atlantis, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, and, of course, Conan the Cimmerian, his efforts as a pioneer in fantasy world-building are often overlooked. When it is remarked upon at all, Howard’s creation of the Hyborian Age of Conan is generally described as a fairly impromptu effort — a hodge-podge of fictitious kingdoms based on thinly-disguised real world historical analogues, thrown together hastily in early 1932 after the first Conan story was accepted by Weird Tales.

…

Read More Read More

Beneath Ceaseless Skies 178 Now Available

Friday, August 7, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #178 has a new story by Raphael Ordoñez, author of “Day of the Dragonfly” (and the novel Dragonfly, featuring the same character), and Benjanun Sriduangkaew, better known as notorious blogger Requires Hate, subject of Laura J. Mixon’s Hugo-nominated “Report on Damage Done by One Individual Under Several Names.” It also features a podcast by Kate Marshall, and a reprint from Nicole M. Taylor.

“The Scale-Tree” by Raphael Ordoñez
Zeuxis led them up to the highest storey. There he left them while he went back and forth between darkroom and roof with his camera and the parts to his flying machine, carrying them up to the pavement that surrounded the topmost spire.

“The Insurrectionist and the Empress Who Reigns Over Time” by Benjanun Sriduangkaew
In a palace shaped like bromeliads Yin Sanhi sat sipping a liquor of fermented cactus essence and sand persimmon. The chamber was papered by scrolls of proverbs on statecraft. The mathematicians and artists meant to send her dancers in pale silk and musicians with wrists like flutes, but she had declined, choosing instead silence and solitude.

Audio Fiction Podcast: “Stone Prayers” by Kate Marshall
Mattar comes to the house of Anaharesh in search of a single word; a word to end a war.

From the Archives: “A Spoonful of Salt” by Nicole M. Taylor (from BCS #79, October 2011)
He tasted of salt. Naomi half-expected to see him melting in the places where her mouth had been.

Issue 178 was published on July 23, 2015. Read it online completely free here.

…

Read More Read More

The New Dungeons & Dragons Movie Will Be Set in The Forgotten Realms

Thursday, August 6, 2015 John ONeill Comments 13 comments

We’re learning more about the new Dungeons & Dragons movie announced by Warner Bros. this week.

The first D&D movie, produced by New Line Cinema in 2000, was an epic failure (and its sequel was even worse), but this film will be produced by the studio behind The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter franchises, which has been on the hunt for a premium fantasy property for some time. An ongoing lawsuit over ownership of the D&D film rights prevented the project from going ahead, but Variety reports that dispute has finally been resolved.

A movie based on the widely popular game Dungeons & Dragons is in the works at Warner Bros., the studio announced Monday, 10 months after a trial over who owned the rights to the fantasy game ended.

After months of negotiation, Warner Bros., Hasbro’s Allspark Pictures and Sweetpea Entertainment said they had come to an undisclosed arrangement, ending the 2-year-old lawsuit, and are moving forward with the feature film franchise. David Leslie Johnson (The Conjuring 2) has already written the screenplay set in the D&D fantasy world of [The] Forgotten Realms. Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, Sweetpea Entertainment’s Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman, and Roy Lee (The Lego Movie) are producing the high-priority project.

“This is far and away the most well-known brand in fantasy, which is the genre that drives the most passionate film followings,” said Greg Silverman, Warner Bros. president of creative development and worldwide production. “D&D has endless creative possibilities, giving our filmmakers immense opportunities to delight and thrill both fans and moviegoers new to the property…”

The Forgotten Realms, created by Ed Greenwood in 1987, is home to the drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden, the mighty wizard Elminster, and countless other famous D&D characters. It has been featured in over 200 novels and countless adventure modules and supplements.

Read the complete article at Variety.

New Treasures: Edge of Sundown: Tales of Horror in the Wild West, edited by Kevin Ross and Brian M Sammons

Thursday, August 6, 2015 John ONeill Comments 0 Comment

I’m a big fan of weird westerns. But you already knew that, just based on my recent articles on R. S. Belcher’s The Shotgun Arcana, Molly Tanzer’s Vermilion, Guy Adams’s Heaven’s Gate trilogy, and the anthologies Ceaseless West, Razored Saddles, and Dead Man’s Hand.

But here’s something new — an original anthology of western horror from Kevin Ross (Dead But Dreaming) and Brian M. Sammons (Tales of Cthulhu Invictus, World War Cthulhu, The Dark Rites of Cthulhu), and published by Chaosium (Call of Cthulhu). Here’s a snippet from the guidelines.

We’re looking for stories set in the American west (west of the Mississippi River) in the latter half of the 19th century, basically from about the Civil War era until the dawn of the 20th century… This is an incredibly rich historical period, full of possibilities for good stories, from real-life heroes and villains to Indians and their legends, cryptozoology, and yes, even opportunities to use elements of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Most importantly, what we’re looking for are good, SCARY stories set in the old west. We’re not looking for tongue-in-cheek works, but ones that take the genre seriously. (Compare, for example, the old Gene Autry serial The Phantom Empire and the more recent western creature-feature The Burrowers.) There can be elements of pulp, fantasy, or adventure, but in the long run the story must have a very strong horror element to it. Other examples of the type of thing we’re looking for would include the serious western (and western horror) fiction of Robert E. Howard, films such as High Plains Drifter, Django the Bastard (AKA The Stranger’s Gundown), and the novel and film The White Buffalo…

With Edge of Sundown our target is very specific, like a bullet straight through the heart: good, serious, scary western horror tales.

Edge of Sundown was published by Chaosium on July 1, 2015. It is 306 pages, priced at $16.95 in trade paperback. There is no digital edition.

Short Speculative Fiction: A July Round-Up

Thursday, August 6, 2015 Learned Foote Comments 0 Comment

In this column, find recommendations for short speculative fiction from Lightspeed (July 2015), Clarkesworld (July 2015) and Asimov’s (July 2015).

“When Your Child Strays from God”
by Sam J. Miller
Clarkesworld 106

This delightful short story is the 1st person account of Bethesda Wilde, an account prepared for the e-mail bulletin of Grace Abounding Evangelical Church. In order to save her son from a life of sin, Beth goes “webslinging” (i.e., takes a drug that puts her in a shared hallucination with her son). Madness ensues. Much of the story’s delight comes from the hallucinatory imagery: inventive, funny, and creepy. Sam J. Miller’s writing bounds from one sentence to the next with tremendous energy and confidence. Aside from the insane web world, the story possesses a sincere emotional core and I found it quite moving in the end. Beth is a memorable and multidimensional character: hilarious, lovable (sometimes hateful), and with a good head for science. She has a few secrets of her own up her sleeve.

…

Read More Read More

Vintage Treasures: Fantastic Stories: Tales of the Weird & Wondrous, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Patrick L. Price

Thursday, August 6, 2015 John ONeill Comments 2 comments

Fantastic Stories Tales of the Weird & Wondrous-small

Fantastic Stories Tales of the Weird & Wondrous back-small

Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR acquired Amazing Stories, the longest running science fiction magazine in the world, in 1982, as a vehicle to help promote their family of games to SF readers around the world. By the mid-80s, TSR had their first fiction bestseller on their hands with the first Dragonlance trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which sold well over three million copies worldwide and spawned dozens of sequels, and TSR quickly became very adept at leveraging all aspects of publishing to support their properties. If publishing D&D novels helped introduce millions of young readers to their products, why not try the same with Amazing Stories?

So TSR contracted Martin H. Greenberg to produce five mass market anthologies, mining six decades of Amazing fiction. The results weren’t particularly big sellers (and they didn’t save Amazing from eventually folding), but they were nonetheless a fabulous boon for collectors. Best of all, they included the most comprehensive survey ever done of the pulp Amazing Stories, a three-volume set containing nearly 1,000-pages, covering 1926 to 1955. I looked at all five volumes in 2012, in a Vintage Treasures article on TSR’s Amazing Science Fiction Anthologies.

The long-running companion magazine to Amazing, Fantastic — which published some of the finest early sword & sorcery in the field, including stories by Fritz Leiber, John Jakes, Poul Anderson, Avram Davidson, James Tiptree, Jr., John Brunner, George R. R. Martin, Philip K. Dick, Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorock, and Dean Koontz — merged with Amazing in 1980, and the rights fell to TSR. As part of their initiative to promote their magazine properties, TSR also commissioned Greenberg and new Amazing Stories editor Patrick L. Price to compile a deluxe anthology collecting 30 years of Fantastic fiction, with new artwork and an 8-page color section reproducing some of their most famous covers. The result was a fine collection, and one of the only anthologies dedicated to one of the all-time great S&S magazines.

…

Read More Read More